Dodgers News: Max Muncy Pulled From Tuesday’s Game Against Cincinnati Early
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The Dodgers have removed Max Muncy from Tuesday's series opener against the Cincinnati Reds after just six-and-a-half innings. There was no reason given for the move, and no indication that he was hurt at any point before that decision. However, as the team entered the field to play defense in the bottom half of the seventh inning, Chris Taylor was heading to third base as a defensive replacement for Muncy.
Muncy had just struck out in the top of the seventh inning, which was the last time we saw him in this game.
We don't know if he was potentially hurt during that at-bat — similar to the injury Trayce Thompson sustained this past Saturday — or if the Dodgers just wanted to make a defensive replacement.
It's also possible that Muncy got a little banged up as he was trying to field the throw from Jason Heyward in the sixth inning, but again, there was no indication that he was dealing with any injury.
The most likely (and hopefully actual) scenario is that Muncy was struggling at defense in this game, and the Dodgers just wanted to get Taylor out there instead.
Muncy had already made two errors in the game, including an airmailed throw to Freddie Freeman that allowed the fourth run to score off of Tony Gonsolin.
Taylor coming in as a defensive replacement would be by far the best-case scenario, so we'll hope that that's the case. Hopefully we get an update from Dodgers manager Dave Roberts after the game, and he confirms that it was just for defensive purposes.
